SALEM, Va. – Freshman Jaylen Gore (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford) scored 13 second-half points in top-seeded Guilford College’s 63-53 comeback win over Hampden-Sydney College, 63-53, in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament quarterfinal Thursday at the Salem Civic Center.
Gore, a 5-11 freshman guard, finished with a game- and career-high 16 points on five-of-eight field-goal shooting. Teammate Alston Thompson (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy) added 15 points, 10 in the second half, as the Quakers (21-5) overcame a nine-point first-half deficit.
The win sends Guilford into the ODAC Tournament semifinals for the second time in three seasons. The Quakers play fifth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College, a 102-93 winner over number-four Lynchburg College in Thursday’s second quarterfinal. The Salem Civic Center hosts the contest Saturday (2/25) at 1:00 p.m.
Malik Crute (Richmond, Va./L.C. Bird) and Jack Duncan both made two of the Tigers’ five first-half three-pointers as Hampden-Sydney (11-16) built a 27-16 first-half lead. The Tigers made four of their first five trifectas, while Guilford shot one-of-12 from beyond the arc in the opening half. Crute made both threes during a 13-5 Tigers’ spurt over a six-minute span. Chaise Johnson’s layup 3:27 before the half gave the number-eight seed its largest lead of the game, 26-17.
Guilford, ranked third among NCAA Division III scoring defense leaders, recommitted itself to defense in the second half. After Hunter Kuehn’s layup on the Tigers’ first second-half possession, Hampden-Sydney missed its next nine shots and committed three turnovers in six minutes. The drought enabled Guilford to rally as Gore’s follow basket at the 13:46 mark tied the score at 29-29. Duncan answered at the other end with his third and final trey of the game, but momentum had clearly shifted to Guilford.
Another Johnson drive and layup gave the Tigers a 39-34 cushion with 12:20 to go, but Guilford’s P.J. Stephens answered with a three-pointer at the other end. The teams traded free throws before Gore made two that tied the game for the fourth and final time at 36-36.Fueled by Gore, Thompson and Dominique Henderson, the Quakers built a five-point margin by scoring on eight-of-nine possessions, and netted 16 of the game’s final 27 points.
Guilford’s offensive rebounding proved critical as its 15 boards on the offensive end resulted in a 15-3 edge in second-chance points and overcame a subpar shooting day. The Quakers also converted 18 Tigers’ turnovers into 17 points, while Hampden-Sydney had nine points from Guilford miscues.
Thompson added a game-high eight rebounds to his 15 points. Henderson netted seven second-half points to finish with nine, matching Long’s scoring total. Point guard Zachary Houston contributed three points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals, a blocked shot and no turnovers in 32 minutes.
Crute’s 12 points and six rebounds paced Hampden-Sydney, which shot 33% from the floor in the second half. Josh Katowitz had 10 points and seven boards off the bench and Duncan finished with nine in his final college contest.
Box Score follows pictures by Andy Gore
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Hampden-Sydney vs Guilford
02/23/17 1:00 PM at Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
At Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
GUILFORD 63
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY 53
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (11-16): CRUTE, Malik 5-13 0-0 12; KATOWITZ, Josh 3-5 4-6 10; DUNCAN, Jake 3-10 0-0 9; JOHNSON, Chaise 3-7 2-2 8; REDDICK, JaVonte 2-8 0-0 6; SAMUELS, Logan 2-2 0-1 4; KUEHN, Hunter 1-2 0-0 2; REID, Justin 1-3 0-0 2; GUIMARAES, Guilherme 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 20-51 6-11 53.
GUILFORD (21-5): GORE, Jaylen 5-8 5-6 16; THOMPSON, Alston 5-9 5-11 15; HENDERSON, Dominique 3-8 2-2 9; LONG, Carson 2-9 4-4 9; STEPHENS, PJ 2-5 0-0 6; ROGERS, Jarrod 1-5 3-4 5; HOUSTON, Zachary 1-5 1-4 3; GREGORY, Kyler 0-1 0-0 0; REYER, Mason 0-0 0-0 0; CURRY, Marcus 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 20-31 63.
Hampden-Sydney................ 27 26 - 53 Guilford...................... 21 42 - 63
3-point goals–Hampden-Sydney 7-20 (DUNCAN, Jake 3-5; REDDICK, JaVonte 2-7; CRUTE, Malik 2-6; JOHNSON, Chaise 0-2), Guilford 5-21 (STEPHENS, PJ 2-4; LONG, Carson 1-6; HENDERSON, Dominique 1-3; GORE, Jaylen 1-2; HOUSTON, Zachary 0-3; ROGERS, Jarrod 0-3).
Fouled out–Hampden-Sydney-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Hampden-Sydney 38 (KATOWITZ, Josh 7), Guilford 38 (THOMPSON, Alston 8).
Assists–Hampden-Sydney 9 (CRUTE, Malik 3), Guilford 11 (HOUSTON, Zachary 5).
Total fouls–Hampden-Sydney 23, Guilford 12.
Technical fouls–Hampden-Sydney-None, Guilford-None.
A-251
Game 5: ODAC Quarterfinals
Guilford advances to play Va. Wesleyan in Saturday’s first semifinal game